Sea Otter Decline

The reading states that the pollution hypothesis seemed the more likely cause for sea otter decline and provides three reasons of support. However, the professor states that predation hypothesis is the most likely cause of the sea otter decline and refutes each of the authors' reasons. First, the reading states that increasing in levels of chemicals could decrease the otters' resistance cause infections to life-threatening infections and death to sea otters. The professor opposes this point by saying that this point is weakened because people could not find dead sea otters on beaches. The professor adds that since dead sea otters are hard to find so the most likely cause of the sea otter decline is predation. The professor adds that predators eat sea otters completly and sea otter cannot wash up to the shore. …show more content…
The professor counters this point by saying that these mammals were disappeared by ocra. The professor adds that hunters hunted small fishes that ocar depends on in it's feeding. So, ocar started to hunt sea otter and that caused sea otters decline. Third, the reading states that the pollution hypothesis could explain the uneven pattern of otter decline. The professor refutes this point by saying that the uneven pattern of otter decline is better explained by ocra predation. The professor points out that sea otter population declined a lot in places accessible to ocra. The professor adds that ocra cannot access shallow rocky locations since ocra size is big. Therefore, the sea otter population does not decline in shallow and rocky